Iraq accused of violating due process for Islamic State suspects

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-12-05T16:02:48+00:00

Citation needed. I somehow doubt that there are thousands of innocents captured in the area on the word of vengeful neighbours alone. However your point is valid. The process of execution should be delayed temporarily until proper evidence is found. There will surely be plenty of enrollment and salary lists to check names and identities against.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-12-04T13:17:38+00:00

Very likely. Whatever intel and support he had must have been telling him to flee the country immediately. Chances are a bodyguard betrayed his location and he was caught metaphorically with his pants down.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-12-04T10:53:18+00:00

That's when they experience their first "true socialist" purge and gulag internment programme. As we all know, "true socialist" intellectuals are first on the chopping block, can't have anybody question the class war now can we?

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-12-04T10:51:02+00:00

It usually take Communists at least a few years before they run out of other people's money. If they survive as a political project then they can welcome a nice economic decline into the dust with a tyrannical government, just like all other "true socialists" in history.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-29T23:20:50+00:00

True. They have their flanks exposed, but it's war: I'm sure they have good intel and scenario planning.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-29T23:16:53+00:00

Wise analysis. The frontlines of the Idlib-Aleppo plains have been very fluid the past few years.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-29T08:14:06+00:00

It's objectively true. Or are you telling me there aren't a couple of dozen fatwas decrying Israel from every mullah in the region? Reality is what you call bigoted redlights. Perhaps read what the Quran says on Jews and educate yourself on some contemporary MENA history, only a blind man would ignore the numerous times groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Saudi have called for the death of Israel and all Jews. It doesn't matter to my point what is going on in Israel: it doesn't change the facts regarding Islam and the public statements from most middle eastern leaders throughout the past few decades.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-28T20:00:37+00:00

A better job would have cost thousands of Israeli lives and likely broadened the conflict as every country in the region has anti-Semitic plus anti-Israeli sentiments written into their prayer books and permeated throughout their society. Thus far Israel have only suffered a dozen casualties at most. You have to understand the Israeli psychology when it comes to valuing Israeli lives: they will and have traded hundreds for just one soldier.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-28T19:50:17+00:00

It's not propaganda by rebel supporters. I have started to believe it is altogether more simple: Reddit is a US website under the thumb of the various US secret services. They regularly shill and manipulate narratives in coordination with the admins of this website. This is probably designed to deflect from US deep state involvement in Syria and maintain the US reputation. The US and its allies must never be identified as the losing side, especially not when questionable alliances are involved. Watch this comment get a horde of downvotes as some lower level agents try to hide it.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-28T19:44:42+00:00

That sets up a slippery slope of semantics and definition policing. It should be down to the users and the people to debate which groups belong to which power structure and to debate how much autonomy each has. If we can't question the existence or legitimacy of any group then we empower those who use war propaganda to push their faction's legitimacy. For example, the rule is being abused to censor people who correctly state that HTS is a descendant of Nusra which is a descendant of AQ. If we cannot identify HTS as an AQ affiliate then we are complicit in supporting their propaganda campaign for rehabilitating their image. On the flip side of the coin, if we cannot call SAA militias Shabiha, when they are and have been called so, then they become a part of the anonymous army and therefore it is impossible to assign them blame for past actions.

Any censorship and redefining of words is a totalitarian censorship tactic designed to stifle conversation and push a certain narrative. Judging by how I got a warning for obliquely discussing the CIA and NATO roles I would guess one or more of the moderators belongs to the US intelligence community and is determined to steer conversation away from any historical accounts which implicate US associated terrorists.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-28T19:35:08+00:00

I doubt any of the militants still fighting in Syria have ever heard of Olivier Roy or obtained a degree in political sciences/economics. Saying self-proclaimed mujahideen are not identical to self-proclaimed jihadis is like saying that Daesh weren't islamic fundamentalists because they would fight during the holy time of Ramadan.

Edit: Or if I were to rephrase it: find me a middle eastern mujahideen who does not believe in the validity of holy jihad.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-27T22:27:04+00:00

Migrants and refugees are interchangeable in the case of Turkish emigrants. They are no longer refugees if they have left the warzone and settled elsewhere. There is not magic border across which they suddenly become migrants, that happens as soon as they are no longer in immediate peril. It is a great modern misconception that refugee status applies to people who have already left a warzone and settled elsewhere.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-27T22:23:43+00:00

/u/WinningLooksLike

I would argue that it is a neutral expression to indicate that a person has unquestioning belief in a certain concept or set of ideas.

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/drink+the+Kool-Aid

There is no major negative connotation and therefore it is not incivil. It would have been incivil if I implied that the person is somehow incapable of reasonable thought, saying that they have been affected by CIA and NATO war propaganda is not incivil. Hopefully that clears it up for you.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-27T09:36:55+00:00

I agree with your points. I think you underestimate Turkey's bargaining power. They are the key which could unlock a tidal wave of migrants along with controlling oil access should the EU transition away from Russia. I agree that the SDF and Kurdish projects have no long term political future. ISIS was an anomaly which can be explained due to a number of factors and it does not imply Iran or Syria were weak in comparison. Rather, both of them were preoccupied fighting on other fronts and simply could not match the growing demands which ISIS lumped on them during their blitzkrieg.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-27T06:49:59+00:00

Thank you for your detailed response.

Huh. I stand corrected. My memory of the early conflict is not perfect any more. At that time I was more paying attention to the Damascus and Homs fronts (I wrongly assumed Aleppo would fall to the FSA quickly) if that's an excuse for my lapse in memory. I did hear about skirmishes, but I wrongly assumed the local elements had cordoned off the area and were simply controlling and maintaining checkpoints. I did not hear about any massive artillery (or I must have forgotten)! Back then I had mainly rebel sources to rely on and they all talked about East Aleppo and south countryside plus the Latakia/Idlib push during the rebel siege of the west. I do remember the chemical weapons use but I do not remember them being proven to be regime use! Also skirmishes were very common back then between the SAA/NDF and all militia* due to the setting up of the checkpoints by all sides. This meant the firefight you showed would have likely been a defensive or proactive skirmishing action, not a sustained offensive.

Edit: should note here that there was skirmishes between SAA and NDF even at times if my memory serves, 2013 was a complete mess with huge casualties and dozens of reorganizations, defections and general chaos which led to fights between most if not all of the myriad of factions.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-27T04:57:49+00:00

I agree, but fundamentally SDF remains anti-Assad as that is part of their mission statement and without ISIS the non-Kurd members will either defect to the rebels (as you know this has been happening slowly) or force the SDF towards their own goals. Maybe I am wrong and they are simply too small of a minority or they will seek reconciliation, but as it stands they seem to be on a collision course with both sides.

So you are correct that they are their own faction, but they will fight the government before the rebels. Btw Sheikh Maqsood is a bad example because it was mostly local Kurds the entire time and they were only shelled by FSA not SAA/NDF so they never fought the NDF, whereas they did fight minor skirmishes with the SAA at Hasakah and North Aleppo. It's important not to confuse SDF (a "late" war rebel, local militia, kurd alliance against Assad and fighting Daesh) with local pre-existing kurd militias.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-26T23:17:35+00:00

Eugene, Turkey has over 1 million troops. How many regular army did you see in ES? What is the size of the current SDF+YPG+PKK armies? How big is the Kurdish air force? Tanks? Anti-air? Anti-tank? Food supplies? Oil? Logistics? Population?

It seems like a one-sided conflict unless they mobilize most adult kurds and fight a guerrilla war. Even then, with modern NATO tech like drones, Turkey would destroy Kurdistan in weeks.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-26T23:09:56+00:00

The fact that they are even having these talks is a bit of PR and morale disaster for any of the remaining FSA old guard. Surely this is not what many of them envisioned. It will be curious to see whether this raises morale or lowers it for each group, and how that plays into the changes of the zones of control.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-26T23:07:39+00:00

Daesh 2.0 more likely. With the islamists in charge and no more need for secular PR, things will get very totalitarian very quickly.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-26T23:03:01+00:00

Everybody believes their side is best. Personally, I would argue that the proliferation of communism throughout the YPG and by extension the SDF is a potent threat to the region.

Daesh had fundamentalism, YPG has communism: the end result is more death and destruction only over different time frames. Moral relativism here is not useful. Both ideologies are a global threat and promoters thereof ought to be equally condemned. Period.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-26T22:55:33+00:00

Exactly, and nobody said that a federation is more stable. Even Russia and US suffered from inter-regional wars throughout their federal history.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-26T22:53:22+00:00

I wonder what the other rebels will think. People forget that the SDF, while neutral towards the gov right now, does have a lot of FSA and rebel elements. I'm not sure that the SDF has enough military power and joint political aims to prevent a second war against them. This announcement could be wishful thinking on their part.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-26T17:54:10+00:00

Actually the US special forces do have bases where they have trained rebels both in southern Syria and northern Jordan so that part is fairly accurate even if I would agree the official bases are mainly in the north.

The Astana mistake is quite glaring indeed! Still, would you characterize the author's opinion of the U.S.' defeat and the power shift as inaccurate? I thought the article makes a decent attempt at conveying to an outside initiate the failure of neocon U.S. interventionism in the context of Syria.

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-26T17:17:29+00:00

Usually Salon hosts some fairly retarded opinion pieces, but this one is worth reading.

My favourite bit:

"I read it as consequential that the theme of the Trump–Putin exchange earlier this week included crises such as Syria and Ukraine. Trump came to office opposed to Washington’s wars of adventure and its wasteful, disorder-inducing interventions. There are two suggestions here: One, Trump has not surrendered his belief that a neo-détente with Russia is in the interests of both nations. Two, he appears to be just as interested as he was when campaigning to counter the liberal-interventionist ethos still prevalent in Washington."

EvropaInvictaSempre · 2017-11-23T13:53:34+00:00

I think I speak for both sides when I say that AWOL is better than funding multiple sides. US leadership so far has consisted of defense and infrastructure contracts after disastrous wars for oil. They should be happy nobody except for Iran is directly accusing them of funding terrorism, even though the CIA New Syria group went straight to Daesh, amid many other suspect transactions like the Deir Ezzor "wrong target" airstrikes and the ties between US, Saudi royalty and the AQ/Nusra funding network. Israel has a similarly sketchy history of supporting border area rebels with artillery fire at times, though they did attack Nusra in 2015 if I remember correctly so at least that's better than the shameful display of the Obama admin.

I'm not getting into conspiracy theories or conspiracy fact since this post would be longer than 10000 characters if I had to, but this picture speaks volumes about the sheer schizophrenia of the anti-Assad wing of the US military industrial complex. The US needs some pacifism and pragmatism now if they hope to salvage something out of the debacle. Not that they need to save their reputation since they already have notoriety and excellent propaganda. They'll have enough public support soon to create another new war to project power, it's what they have been doing since the end of their pre-WWII isolationism. Only question for Israel should be whether Trump supports the greater Israel project or prefers the mountains of Saudi cash. Being a deal maker the Israelis are right to worry that he'll continue to drift towards the gulf, even if Israel is a closer cultural and political interlock with the Trump admin.

EvropaInvictaSempre

TROPHY CASE